Ice-making machine or apparatus.



No. 729.929. PATENTBD JUNE 2, 190s.

1 J. H. J. HAINBS.

ICE MAKINGMAGHINE 0R APPARATUS."

APPLICATION IILBD JAN. 19, 1903.

No MODEL.

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Ntra STATES Patented une 2, 1903. d@ParaNT OFFICE.

JOHN H. J. HAINES, OE NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM A. SVEETSER AND HENRY S. ELLIOTT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. Y

ICE-MAKING MACHINE OR APPARATUS.-

lEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 729,929, dated J' une 2, 1903. Application led January 19, 1903. Serial No. 139,662. (No model.)

To til whom it 71mg concern.; Be it known that I, JOHN H. J. HAINES, a resident of New York, State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ice-Making Machines or Apparatus, which invention is fully set forth in the following specification. Y y My invention relates to ice-machines of that class in which the rapid expansion of a gas (preferably reduced to a liquefied state by compression) is employed to reduce the tem-- perature of the liquid to be frozen to or below the freezing-point.

The object of the invention is to providea machine or apparatus of the class referred to which shall operate efficiently on a commercial scale with a gas that may be obtained at a low initial cost and which is capable of compression to the desired degree with the expenditure of a minimum amount of power,

. thereby rendering possible the production of ice on a large scale at a very low cost.

With this object in View the inventionconsists in a gas-expansion chamber inclosing a refrigeratingchamber and having `its top in communication with a reservoir containinga compressed gas, preferably liquefied, and also in communication from a point at or near its top with a pump which acts to exhaust the gas from the gas-expansion chamber and recompress it and deliver it to a suitable reservoir, which for convenience vmay be the reservoir from which it passed to the expansionchamber.` The gas I prefer to employ is sulfurous dioxid, ($02,) which has a very low critical point, and hence is capable of compressiontoliquefaction with the expenditure of a small amount of power; butI have found that when a reservoir of this liquefied gas is placed in'communication with the gas-ex-` pansion chamber surrounding the refrigerating-chamber a considerable amount of the gas passes over into the expansion-chamber in a liquid state, so that before the machine has been operated for any considerable length 0f time the liquefied gas gradually fills the expansion-chamber or greatly reduces the volume thereof, thereby decreasing the elii-V ciency of the machine or apparatus and eventually clogging it to such an extent that it cannot be operated economically, if at all.

4To obviatethis difculty, I have devised an automatic valve mechanism interposed between the reservoir and the expansion-chamber, which valve mechanism operates to nearly if not entirely prevent the passage of the liquid gas, while permitting the free passageof the necessary amount in a gaseous form.

, Ilhave illustrated in the accompanying dagrammatic drawings one mechanical expression of the inventive idea; but it is to be understood that such drawings are illustrative `only and are not designed to define the limits of the invention, this being done by the claims herein.

In said drawings, Figure l is a diagrammatic view of the apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a detailed sectional view of the automatic valve mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, l is a box made of any suitable material, and 2 is a smaller boX, so placed within box las to leave a considerable space between the sides and bottoms of the two boxes, which space is hermeti'oally .sealed around the top edges of the boxes.

This intervening space constitutes the gaseXpansion chamber of the apparatus. A'compressed-gas reservoir 3 has a pipe or conduit 4, leading from a point near the bottom of the reservoir 3 to the expansion-chamber, which it enters at or near its top. A second pipe or conduit 5 leads from the top of the expansion-chamber to the suction side of a vacuum-pump or compressor 6, while apipe 7leads from the compression side of the pump to the reservoir 3, preferablypassingthrough a condenser or cooling-tank 8, through which a current of cold water is directed by means of pipes 9 and lO. Preferably the cold water enters at the bottom pipe 9 and Hows out through the top pipe lO, because thewarmer water will naturally rise t0 the top, and the body of water in the cooler or condenser will thus be kept cooler than itwould be ifthe cur rent were reversed. The gas which I prefer to employ-issulfurous dioxid, (SO2',') because it can be purchased on the market at a very low price and because itscritical point is very low, and it can therefore be compressed to liquefaction by a single-action compression pump, which can be operated bya minimum IOO amount ot power, whereas it' a gas having a high critical point were employed it would necessitate the use of a double-action pump, with a corresponding increase in the power required to operate it.

One of the diflicultiesincident to the use of a gas with a low critical point, like sulfurous dioxid, lies in the fact that the gas does not pass as rapidly from the liquidto the gaseous state at a given temperature and pressure as a gas having ahigher critical point, and hence the gas is liable to pass into the expansionchamber in considerable quantities in the form of a liquid, thereby clogging the apparatus and interferingwith its efficiency. In order to obviate this difficulty, I introduce an automatic valve device 11 into the pipe 4 between the liquid-gas reservoir 3 and t he gasexpansion chamber4,and preferably at or near the point where the pipe 4 enters the expansion-chamber. This valve 11 is shown in position in Fig. 1, and its construction isshownin Fig. 2. The valve-casing is provided with a prolonged hollow stem portion 12, formed on that side of the valve-seat 13 toward the liquid-gas tank 3, and the valve 14 is attached to one end of a wire or bar 15, oi' any suitable metal, as silver, and which extends through the hollow stem 12 and has its other end secured to the wall of the stem 12 in any suitable way. The length of this wire or bar 15 is such as to normally .hold the valve I14 off of its seat when the temperature in t'he expansion-chamber is just above the freezingpoint. It' the amount of gas escaping into the expansion-chamber is such as to reduce the temperature much below the freezingpoint, the wire or bar 15 contracts by reason of the lowering of the temperature, and thereby tends to seat the valve, while a rise of temperature in the expansion chamber tends to unseat or open the valve. The result of this action is that when more gas is passing through the valve than is necessary to lower the temperature to the desired point the valve acts to automatically decrease the amount of gas passing to the expansion-chainber, and, vice Versa, when the temperature of the expansion-cham ber is above the point dcsired the valve acts to automatically increase the flow and expansion of gas, and this lowers the temperature ot' the expansion-chamber. If any gas in liquid form should enter the expansion-chamber, its rapid expansion under the influence of the vacuum will lower the temperature and canse the valve 14 to automatically decrease the flow of gas, and this might be and sometimes is carried to the extent of closing said valve 14 altogether. In the conduit 4-is placed a suitable valve 16, which may be manually operated to entirely close the conduit when the apparatus is not in use.

With the apparatus thus described I pro- 'ceed as follows: Within the box 2 I preferably place a liquid 17, such as strong brine, whose freezing-point is below that of water,

and in this brine I place a vessel 18, containing the water to be frozen. This vessel 18 is preferably shaped like the inverted frustum of a pyramid. The valve 16 being open and the pump G set in motion tends to create a vacuum in the expansion-chamber. The liquefied gas from reservoir 3 reaches the eX- pansion-chamber via conduit 4, and the rapid expansion of the gas acts to lower the temperature of the brine to or below the freezing-point of the water in the vessel 18, which is thcrebyfrozen. The gas,which has expanded within the expansion-chamber and performeditsrefrigeratingfunction,iswithdrawn into the reservoir 3, to which it is conducted by the pipe 7 via the condenser or coolingcoil 8, which materially assists in liquefying the compressed gas. If in the operation of the apparatus any liquefied gas enters the expansion-chamber past the valve 14, its rapid expansion under the influence of the vacuum produced by the pump 6 will cause a sudden lowering ofthe temperature in the expansionchamber, thereby causing the wire or bar l5 to contract and draw the bar 14 toward its seat, and thus diminishing the opening for the passage of gas into tbe expansion-cham ber. If the temperature of the expansionchamber shall rise, the valve 14 will be automatically opened.

It will be seen that the apparatus is one of simple construction,operating with cheap malterials and small power, and that it automatically regulates the temperature to the degree desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. Inanice-makingapparatus,anice-chamber, -a gas-expansion chamber surrounding the same,a reservoir containing liquefied gas, a pipe extending from the reservoir into the expansion-chamber,a valve-casing supported on said pipe within said expansion-chamber, and a thermostatic valve within said casing.

2. In an ice-making apparatus, a reservoir containing liquefied gas, an ice-chamber, an expansion-chamber surrounding. the same, a conduit leading from the reservoir to the expansion-chamber, and a thermostat suspended in said expansion-chamber and controlling the flow of gas to said chamber.

3. In an ice-making apparatus, a reservoir, containing liquefied gas, an ice-chamber, an expansion-chamber surrounding the same, a conduit leading from the reservoir to the expansion-chamber, a valve-casing at the end ot said conduit and. within the expansionchamber,a valve-seat within said valve-chamber, and a Valve in proximity to said seat, and carried by a thermostat also in said chamber.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN II. J. HAINES.

Witnesses:l

S. T. CAMERON, WM. A. SwEETsER.

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